2025 Renault Arkana Esprit Alpine review

The small SUV segment is a crowded place with options abounding from numerous manufacturers. At last count, some 24 different models from 18 makes clamour for the attention of buyers, and that means standing out from the crowd has never been more important.

It’s into this small SUV fray that the 2025 Renault Arkana brings some attractive French flair, helping it to stand out in a sea of small SUV homogeneity.

The little Frenchie was on the receiving end of a mild update late last year with some styling tweaks and some extra tech and equipment. Unusually in this day and age, the goodies and refresh come at no extra cost over the outgoing model. On paper at least, the new Renault Arkana represents better value for money for Australian buyers.

Just two models comprise the Arkana range in Australia, led by the mid-spec Techno that is priced from $41,000 plus on-road costs.

Above that sits the crossover we have here, the erstwhile range-topping Arkana Esprit Alpine which is priced from $45,000 before on-road costs. An entry-level Evolution variant is also on the cards, but there has been no confirmation of timing or price.

The Esprit Alpine name of the range-topper (literally Spirit of Alpine) invokes the French brand’s sporting division, which has transitioned away from R.S. (Renault Sport) and back into Alpine (Renault’s F1 outfit has been called Alpine F1 Team since 2021).

The 2025 upgrades are largely cosmetic with minor revisions outside and some new materials inside, along with a smattering of technological upgrades.

What hasn’t changed is the 1.3-litre four-cylinder turbocharged petrol engine under the bonnet, nor its 115kW and 262Nm outputs. And the seven-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission is also carried over. It sends drive to the front wheels.

The most visible exterior change is at the front, a new diamond-pattern grille bedazzled with Renault’s new logo taking pride of place. Some subtle tweaks to the rear tail-light design fall into the blink-and-you’ll-miss-it category, the most obvious change at the rear, Renault’s new logo.

The update is more keenly felt inside with new materials, trims, accents and a new steering wheel the most obvious changes. Tech upgrades for the MY25 Arkana include a 360-degree camera and wireless smartphone charging.

As the range-topping model, the Arkana Esprit Alpine scores a healthy amount of standard equipment, both in terms of technology and creature comforts.

Standard inclusions run to 19-inch alloy wheels, LED head- and tail-lights, leatherette and suede-look seat upholstery, powered and heated front seats with lumbar support, keyless entry and push-button start, climate control air-conditioning, a 9.3-inch portrait-style infotainment touchscreen with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, the full gamut of radio bandwidths (AM/FM/DAB+), and satellite navigation.

There’s also a 10.25-inch digital instrument cluster, rain-sensing windscreen wipers, heated steering wheel, privacy glass, sunroof, and an eight-speaker Bose premium sound system.

Underscoring its Frenchiness, there’s plenty of Alpine branding, both inside and out featuring the French tricolore, including some pretty sharp-looking contrast stitching.

A comprehensive suite of Renault’s advanced driver assist and safety systems (which we’ll detail later) is also bundled into the Arkana Esprit Alpine, while exclusive to this range-topper are front and rear skid plates finished in gunmetal grey.

Our car was finished in a striking shade of Flame Red metallic paint, a $750 option, lifting the as-tested price to $45,750 before on-road costs, or around $50,000 drive-away (in NSW).

The Arkana’s main rivals include the Hyundai Kona N Line Premium 2WD, its $42,500 before-on-road-costs price undercutting the Renault by $2500.

A similar $44,840 lands a Mazda CX-30 G20 Astina FWD, while the Volkswagen T-Roc Style FWD is priced from $41,990 before on-road costs.

The Renault Arkana is a small SUV that adopts the current trend amongst some SUVs of ‘coupe’ styling. And that means a gently sloping roof line towards the rear. And to my eyes at least, it works, the Arkana more resolved in profile than some similar offerings from rival brands.

Stopping the tape at 4568mm long, 1821mm wide (excluding mirrors), and 1571mm tall, the Arkana is longer than some of its main segment competitors, yet shorter to the top of the roof. The result is a low and sleek profile with nice proportions that brings a little visual je ne sais quoi to a segment that can be a little dreary at times.

That theme continues inside, where the Arkana’s cabin offers a nice blend of premium materials and practicality.

The seat upholstery, a blend of imitation leather and suede materials accented by plenty of red, white and blue tricolore contrast stitching, looks pretty special. Alpine logos embroidered into the headrests and small French flags sewn into the seams of the upper seat add more visual flair. But the hard plastic dash and door inserts look and feel a bit cheap in their execution, with chintzy-looking black with marbled white highlights.

The front seats are nicely supportive and comfortable even on longer drives, while the new steering wheel design, all perforated leather with red, white and blue contrast stitching, feels solid and reassuring in-hand.

Amenities in the front row include a pair of cupholders, a small but serviceable central storage bin, door pockets that can take small bottles, a wireless smartphone charging pad ahead of the gear lever and a couple of USB plugs.

An additional credit-card-sized cubby next to the electronic handbrake is the perfect place to keep the Arkana’s credit-card-sized key.

Renault deserves plaudits for sticking with chunky dials and switches for the Arkana’s climate controls, which are easy to use and navigate while on the move. Providing a much better user experience than screen-based controls, which are increasingly becoming the norm in today’s automotive landscape. We’ll take old-fashioned tactile dials and switches every day of the week.

The second row loses some of the lustre of the front row, with firmer seat bases and a premium on spaciousness. This is a small SUV, and while there is adequate foot, knee and leg room, head room is a bit compromised thanks to the sloping coupe-like profile.

The middle seat isn’t the most comfortable either, with a raised seating position that is firmer than the outboard seats and a seatback that’s downright hard. A large transmission tunnel eats into valuable foot space too. It’s a seat best served for occasional use and certainly not one for longer road trips.

Amenities in row two run to air vents, cupholders located in a fold-down armrest (the reason for the hard-as-planks middle seatbacks) and a couple of USB plugs for keeping devices topped up. The door pockets are adequate, too, for some additional storage, including smaller water bottles.

Buyers who need to carry little ones will be served by ISOFIX child seat mounts on the outboard seats as well as three top-tether anchors on the second-row seatbacks. The second row folds away in 60:40-split fashion, freeing up 1268 litres of storage capacity in the cargo area. With the second row in use, there’s a decent 485L of space.

The boot floor lifts to reveal a small but handy additional storage area, while a space-saver spare wheel and tyre live under the second boot floor.

The Arkana’s 9.3-inch portrait-style infotainment touchscreen is carried over from the pre-updated model. It’s equipped with wireless (and cabled) Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, along with inbuilt satellite navigation, Bluetooth connectivity and DAB+ digital radio. Wireless CarPlay worked faultlessly throughout, quick to pair on start-up, and with a stable connection throughout.

The screen itself is responsive to inputs and the system’s menu structure easily accessed via a small series of shortcut icons on perma-display at the bottom edge of the screen.

A wireless charging pad, new for this update, helps keep devices juiced up on the go, while four of the older USB-A plugs – two up front and two in the second row – add to the charging options.

The new digital driver display is easy to navigate and offers a decent amount of driving data – such as fuel consumption – but remains largely static. It features digital versions of traditional analogue dials (tacho and speed) with a small but serviceable enough information screen nestled between.

But, select Sport from the drive mode options and the two dials are replaced by one single centrally displayed tachometer, augmented by a digital speed readout in the middle.

Eco drive mode turns the display’s accents and highlights green with an icon featuring a big green leaf, just as a reminder you’re trying to save the planet. Or something.

The Renault Arkana was awarded a five-star ANCAP safety rating in 2019, based on testing conducted by its European counterpart Euro NCAP. Under ANCAP current protocols, that rating is set to expire in December 2025.

It scored highly in adult and child occupant protection (96 per cent and 85 per cent respectively), good in vulnerable road user protection (75 per cent), and good in the assessment of its safety assist systems (72 per cent).

A comprehensive, albeit not complete, suite of active safety systems are on board the Arkana.

Standard are autonomous emergency braking with pedestrian and cyclist detection, lane-departure warning, lane-keeping assist with lane centring, blind-spot alert, rear cross-traffic alert, traffic sign recognition, adaptive cruise control with stop-and-go function, tyre pressure monitoring, front and rear parking sensors, and a 360-degree camera.

Missing in action is a driver attention alert, no bad thing as in our experience across a wide range of different manufacturers, this particular safety technology can often prove intrusive and distracting – a hindrance more than a help.

My week behind the wheel didn’t highlight any glaring issues with the Arkana’s safety assist systems, although I did feel the adaptive cruise control could take a little longer to react to the traffic conditions than my brain deemed acceptable.

Six airbags cover both rows of occupants, although there is no front-centre airbag that mitigates against head clashes between occupants in the event of an accident.

Renault covers the Arkana with its standard five-year, unlimited-kilometre warranty, as well as providing five years of roadside assistance.

Servicing intervals are every 12 months or 30,000km, whichever comes first. The distance interval is good for anyone who drives more than the annual average (around 15,000km) and means the Arkana will not be off the road as often over a year.

Renault Australia’s capped-price servicing plan is priced at $2385 for five years or 150,000km, broken up as $399 for the first three years/90,000km with a major $789 service at 48 months/120,000km, before another $399 trip to the workshop at five years/150,000km. That works out to an annual average of $477 over five years.

Comprehensive insurance for the Renault Arkana Esprit Alpine runs to $1920 per annum, based on a comparative quote for a 35-year-old male driver living in Chatswood, NSW.

Insurance estimates may vary based on your location, driving history, and personal circumstances.

For context, based on the same parameters, the Volkswagen T-Roc Style FWD commands annual insurance premiums of $1670, reflective of its slightly lower starting price.

Renault claims the Arkana will use 5.9 litres per 100 kilometres of 91-octane regular unleaded on the combined cycle.

My week with the svelte SUV, covering a wide variety of conditions – from peak-hour traffic to urban driving and extended highway lopes – didn't come anywhere near the French brand’s claim, with an indicated 8.1L/100km.

The fuel tank measures in at 50L and gives a potential driving range of just under 850km at Renault's claimed consumption, or just over 615km based on the consumption recorded on test.

Powering the 2025 Renault Arkana is an unchanged 1.3-litre turbocharged four-cylinder petrol mated to a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission sending drive to the front wheels.

The 1.3-litre makes 115kW and 262Nm for a 0–100km/h claim of 9.1 seconds. That seems lacklustre on paper, but in reality, the Arkana does a good job of moving through urban environments with a perky manner and brisk acceleration at lower speeds. But once speeds climb to motorway levels, the Arkana runs out of puff. With peak power at 5500rpm and peak torque at 2250rpm, you’d expect a brisker experience behind the wheel.

But it’s let down by a recalcitrant dual-clutch transmission that is laggy and hesitant from standstill, taking a moment too long to react to throttle inputs. Once on the move, the DCT is slick enough with smooth shifts that don’t intrude on the driving experience.

However, ask for a burst of acceleration, say for an overtake or merge onto a motorway, and the transmission again shows signs of hesitation before effecting down-shifts. The takeout here is to plan your overtakes carefully.

It mars what is an otherwise pleasant little SUV to drive; one that leans on the sporty side in terms of dynamics. Ride comfort around town feels a little on the firm side, the Arkana showing a hard edge when navigating scrappy road surfaces. Road noise, too, is a touch high, although not so much that it becomes problematic inside the cabin.

The payoff comes when enjoying a rural drive through some bends and corners, the firmer suspension tune coming to the fore, the Arkana a willing companion on some spirited driving.

That’s helped by its light weight (it tips the scale at just 1349kg kerb), and by a nicely calibrated Sport drive mode that brings some sharpness to throttle response and a willingness from the transmission to hold onto gears longer.

That taut suspension pays dividends, too, with good body control during cornering and a firmly planted chassis that reacts well to changes of direction and cornering. The result is a surprisingly nimble and engaging SUV when the right conditions present themselves.

According to Renault, the Arkana offers towing capacities of 900kg (braked trailer) and 715kg (unbraked) and a towball down weight of 75kg.

That might be enough for a small box trailer loaded with a few household items, but we’d recommend that if your needs run to regular towing, then the Arkana might not be the SUV for you.

The pre-updated Renault Arkana was already a smart and stylish crossover SUV with loads of kerb appeal. That’s only been enhanced by the minor yet effective exterior design changes.

The updates have also worked inside, certainly in this top-spec Esprit Alpine variant, where a blend of mostly nice materials (the dash treatment not withstanding) and thoughtful design work together to create a pleasing in-car experience.

That Renault has implemented these updates without the expected price rise is icing on the cake.

But the Arkana is let down by that hesitant dual-clutch transmission, especially in an urban setting where stop-start traffic is the norm.

Though there’s little denying the 2025 Arkana Esprit Alpine represents good value with a generous list of standard equipment, some quality materials and design touches, and a surprisingly nimble driving experience once the grind of weekday traffic has been left behind.

It remains, though, a chic take on the small SUV segment. One that delivers on style and charm, with a little bit of that famous French flair.

Rob Margeit is an award-winning Australian motoring journalist and editor who has been writing about cars and motorsport for over 25 years. A former editor of Australian Auto Action, Rob’s work has also appeared in the Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, Wheels, Motor Magazine, Street Machine and Top Gear Australia. Rob’s current rides include a 1996 Mercedes-Benz E-Class and a 2000 Honda HR-V Sport.

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